Rack actuated toy having rack return means



Jan. 18, 1966 Filed Jan. 16, 1964 H. K. BROSS 3,229,415

RACK ACTUATED TOY HAVING RACK RETURN MEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR HELMUT KAR L BROSS BY TAMIL T Jan. 18, 1966 H. K. BROSS 3,229,415

RACK ACTUATED TOY HAVING RACK RETURN MEANS Filed Jan. 16, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 99 lons'fj 3 u 97 l I l l I l I i/ I 93 no? IH 96 m9 no I03 I08 95 .1,;

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RACK ACTUATED TOY HAVING RACK RETURN MEANS Filed Jan. 16, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

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I93 I98 jIIIlII/IIIIIl/l FIGJT United States Patent 3,229,415 RACK ACTUATED TOY HAVING RACK RETURN MEANS Helmut Karl Brass, Altenberg uber Nurnberg, Germany, assignor of fifty percent to Frank T. Johmann, Berkeley Heights, NJ.

Filed Jan. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 338,071

Claims priority, application Germany, Apr. 3, 1963,

B 71,398 14 Claims. (Cl. 4675) This invention relates to toys. Particularly, it relates to moving toys operated by pulling and releasing a pulling member, wherein the pulling member is attached to a return device to reposition the pulling member in the toy.

In the present invention, a pulling member, e.g. a flexible rack, is pulled across a pinion gear to drive the toy. The pulling member is built-in as part of the toys so loss or separation of the pulling member from the remainder of the toy is prevented. Also, the necessity of threading the pulling member or rack with the pinion drive gear is avoided since threading can be automatic or the rack can be always maintained threaded with the pinion gear. Because of this, the rack may be readily pulled across the pinion gear several times in rapid succession while in driving engagement to permit imparting an extremely high rate of rotation to the pinion drive gear, thereby increasing the driving energy of the toy for more extended movement.

Other advantages and aspects of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following descriptions and drawings which include a preferred form of the invention and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side view, partly in cross-section of a toy helicopter.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a front fragmentary view, partly in section, of a modification of the embodiment of FIGURES 1 and 2.

FIGURE 4 is a rear view, partly in section, of a driv ing handle which may be used to launch toy flying saucers and other related spinning toys.

FIGURE 5 is a view, taken along the line 55 of FIG- URE 4, showing the pulling rack broken.

FIGURE 6 is a side view, partly in section, of another driving handle of the invention.

FIGURE 7 is a top view, partly broken away and in section, of the handle of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a rear view of the handle of FIGURES 6 and 7.

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 10 is a side view of a modification of the handle of FIGURES 5 to 9 wherein auxiliary gearing is used to further increase the speed of rotation of the toy drive.

FIGURE 11 is a top fragmentary view, partly in section, of the handle of FIGURE 10.

FIGURE 12 is a side view, partly in section, of a toy racing car embodying the invention.

FIGURE 13 is a sectional view taken along the line 13-13 of FIGURE 12.

FIGURE 14 is a side view, partly in section, of a toy boat of the invention.

FIGURE 15 is a side view, partly in section, of a toy boat driven by a paddle wheel.

FIGURE 16 is a top view of a Delta wing airplane toy driven by a propeller.

FIGURE 17 is a side view, partly in section, of the airplane of FIGURE 16.

3,229,415 Patented Jan. 18, 1966 FIGURE 18 is a sectional view taken along the line 1818 of FIGURE 16.

In the embodiments of FIGURES l and 2, the helicopter toy has a hollow fuselage formed by cementing the molded sections 10 and 11 together. The vertical flat tail 12 can be molded integrally with one of said sections. A pin 13, fixed to the fuselage and extending transversely between sections 10 and 11, supports the pull-back or return means, which in this case is the rubber band 14. The forward end of rubber band 14 passes through and is held by ring 15. Ring 15 is integrally molded as part of the pulling member or rack 17 defining the gear teeth 18 and terminating at its front end in the handle 19. Rack 17 extends through aperture 20 defined by fuselage members 10 and 11. Abutment of ring 15 against the stopping wall elements 21 and 22 limits the extent that rack 17 is pulled into the toy helicopter body by the rubber band 14 which is always under tension. A rotatable shaft 23 defines at its lower end the conical collar 24 having the slot 25. Above said collar 4, shaft 23 defines the pinion gear teeth 26 which are complementary to rack teeth 18. The upper portion of shaft 23 extends through the annular opening 27 of the fuselage and has fixed thereto the cylindrical, toothed clutch element 28. Extending upwardly from clutch element 28 is the small-diameter cylindrical rod 29 terminating in the large-diameter annular disk 30. The propeller unit includes the cylindrical hub 31 having extending outwardly therefrom the propeller blades 32 (pitched for flight when rotated counter-clockwise when viewed from the top), Whose outer ends terminate in the annular plastic ring 33 which act as a flywheel to store energy. The lower portion of hub 31 defines the ratchet clutch teeth 34 adapted for complementary engageable with the ratchet teeth of element 28. Above teeth 34, said hub 31 defines the annular bore 35. Fuselage section 10 defines the inwardly projecting walls 36 and 37 joined by vertical wall 38. Wall 37 seats and supports drive shaft 23, while walls 36, 37 and 38 act as supporting and guide members for urging the flexible plastic rack 17 into toothed engageable with the pinion gear teeth 26. As shown in FIGURE 2, that part of rack 17 directly opposite and in engagement with the pinion gear teeth 26, is ofl center from the horizontal axis of the toy, although the handle 19 and the ring 15 are on said horizontal axis of the toy. Thus, since rack 17 is preferably molded of slightly flexible plastic, such as polyethylene, this small amount of flexing or bending is readily accomplished due to the flexible nature of rack 17.

To operate, the handle 19 is rapidly pulled out away from the fuselage against the force of rubber band 14 which now becomes further stretched. As rack 17 moves outwardly, it rotates shaft 23 by means of its toothed engagement with pinion teeth 26 while at the same time flexing as it is drawn past teeth 26 since rack 17 is offcenter from the axis of the toy at this point as noted above. The ratchet 28, fixed to the now rapidly rotating shaft 23 rotates the toothed propeller hub 31 and the propeller blades 32 and ring 33. Due to the high speed of rotation imparted to hub 31, the entire propeller unit will rise upwardly away from the toys fuselage until retained by collar 30 so that hub ratchet teeth 34 are now clear of the driving ratchet teeth 28. At this time, ie the end of this pulling stroke stopped by ring 15 hitting walls 36 and 37, handle 19 is released whereupon rack 17 is pulled back into the fuselage by means of the nowcontracting rubber band 14. Since the propellernnit is out of engagement with the drive shaft 23, the reverse rotation of shaft 23 due to retraction of rack 17, has no elfect on the decoupled propeller unit which is now in rotation due solely to its own momentum. The toy can then be released into flight and will fly until momentum is lost from its propeller unit.

In construction of the toy helicopter, the shaft 23, preferably of plastic, is pressed downwardly through support 37 as the resilient conical portions 24 are forced inwardly towards each other to allow passage through the annular aperture 39. Upon passing through aperture 39, the conical sides 24 will spring apart, thus rotatably fixing shaft 23 on support wall 37. The rack 17 and rubber band 14 can be fixed on to and positioned within the fuselage half 10, after which the other fuselage half 11 can be cemented in place. The propeller unit can be mounted by cementing rod 29 in aperture 40 in shaft 23, while ratchet 28 can be molded integral with shaft 23.

A modification of the embodiment of FIGURES 1 and 2 is shown in FIGURE 3. Here the rack 17' is formed with a toothless or decoupling area 50, while shaft 23' has held fixed onto its upper portion the propeller unit including hub 30' in engagement with the 4-sided portion member 51 defined by said upper portion of shaft 23. A conical retaining cone 52 maintains the propeller unit in engagement with shaft 23' for conjoint rotation. In this case, the rack handle 19' is pulled out from the toy fuselage against the urging of the pull-back rubber band. This rotates the propeller unit counter-clockwise when viewed from the top. Handle 19 is then released, Whereupon the rubber band draws the rack 17 back into the toy, rotating the propeller unit clockwise. Once the rack 17 is pulled back completely into the fuselage, shaft 23' will be decoupled from rack 17' since the non-engaging toothless area 50 will be opposite pinion teeth 26 allowing the shaft 23' to freely rotate under the momentum imparted to the propeller unit by the draw-in stroke. Blades 32' are pitched for upward flight when rotating clock-Wise (the opposite pitch from the blades 32 of FIGURES 1 and 2) and the toy will now rise into flight when let free by the child.

A flying saucer toy is illustrated by FIGURES 4 and wherein the toy includes the flying saucer 60 having hub 61 defining the bore 62 having a rectangular cross-section. while extending outwardly from hub 61 are conventional toy flying saucer propeller blades 63. The handle comprises a rectangular-shaped body having side walls 64 open at their rear end but closed at their forward end by the front wall 65. Walls 67, 68, and 69 extend between sides 64 and 65. A pin or boss 70 extends rigidly outwardly from the lower inner part of front wall 65 and serves to hold the retracting twisted rubber band 71 whose upper end engages hook 72 of the drive gear member 73. Member 73 is retained by collars 74 and 75 for rotatable movement within the frame. The upper end of member 73 defines the four-sided tip 76, while its intermediate portion defines the pinion drive teeth 77. The toy is operated by the flexible plastic toothed rack 78 having teeth 79 in meshing engagement with pinion teeth 77 Rack 78 is formed at one end with the pulling handle 80, while its other end defines the stop elements 81 adapted for engagement with the front wall 65 to thereby limit the pull-out stroke of rack 78. In operation, the detachable flying saucer 60 is loosely set on to the tip 76 as shown in FIGURE 4. Handle 80 of the rack is rapidly pulled out with one hand by the child while the other hand holds the launcher handle. As rack 78 is rapidly pulled out, the engaging pinion teeth 77 are spun and the flying saucer 60 is set into rapidly spinning motion and takes off into flight. During the pull-out stroke, the rubber band 71 has been further twisted. After the pull-out stroke, handle 80 is released. Rubber band 71 now begins to untwist and rotates the hook 72 backwardly. As this untwisting occurs, the rack 78 is automatically moved back to its original portion by the pinion teeth 77 now moving rack 78, due to the untwisting rubber band 71. Thus, the launcher handle is automatically returned to its original starting position, so that upon recovery of the flying saucer, it can be set back 4 into the original position of FIGURE 4 and the toy is ready for another launching.

In the embodiment shown by FIGURES 6 and 7, the handle is formed with top wall 91, side walls 92, rear end wall 93, front end wall 94, and the partial bottom wall 95. Mounted for rotational movement on walls 91 and 95 is the cylindrical shaft 96 retained by annular collars 97 and 98. The upper end of shaft 96 defines the square cross-sectional portion 99 adapted for loose engagement with hub 100 of a toy flying saucer having blades 101. Intermediate the ends of shaft 96 are defined the pinion gear teeth 102. A rubber band 103 has one end looped around the tab 104 defined by slots 105 and 106 in rear wall 93, while its other end is carried in the slotted eye hook 107 which is integral with the toothed rack 108. The slot in hook 107 permits easy assembly of the rubber band on the hook. The outer end of rack 108 defines the stop 109 and the pulling handle 110. Stop 109 holds handle 110 out from the toy body to permit an easier grasp of handle 110. As shown in FIGURE 7, the rack is guided by the supporting and guide walls 111 and 112 into meshing engagement with pinion teeth 102. Although the rack 108 is bent at an angle where it engages the pinion teeth 102, the rack is flexible and can bend so that it can readily be pulled directly out through the aperture 113. By rapidly pulling out handle 110 against the tension of rubber band 103, the flying saucer is spun into flight. Upon release of handle 110, the rubber band 103 will automatically pull the rack 108 back into its original position. The child wraps one hand around the handle 90 while pulling the handle 110 with the other hand. The tab 114, which is actually the lower part of rear wall 93, acts as a stop to prevent the handle 90 from being pulled through the childs grasp.

FIGURES 10 and 11 represent a modification of the embodiment of FIGURES 6 to 9 in that gearing has been added so that the speed imparted to the flying saucer can be increased. Here, the pinion teeth are defined at by rotatable shaft 121 having fixed thereto the gear 122 in engagement with gear teeth 123 of drive shaft 124. Shaft 124 defines the end 125 having a square cross-section and loosely engaging the propeller hub 100' of a flying saucer which has blades 101' pitched oppositely to blades 101 since the flying saucer used with the embodiment of FIGURES 10 and 11 is spun oppositely to that used with the embodiment of FIGURES 6 to 9 due to the additional gearing. Upon pulling handle 110 outwardly, then the toothed rack 108 will rotate pinion teeth 120 which, in turn, will drive gear 122 against the smaller gear 123 to thereby spin the propeller hub 100 at several times the speed that can be obtained by the embodiment of FIG- URES 6 to 9.

In the embodiment of FIGURES 12 and 13, the toy racing car has the plastic body defining openings 131 for press-fit reception of centrally apertured retaining disks 132 which hold in place the wheel assembly including relatively heavy wheels 133 and hubs 134 fixed to axle shafts 135 and 136. The use of the press-fitted disks 132 permit blow-molding body 130 in one piece, since this method of mounting the wheels is particularly suitable with the thin walls normal to blow molding. Also, the inner parts of the auto can be inserted through the openings 131. By blow-molding, a relatively large, lightweight toy can be inexpensively produced. Mounted on the rear axle shaft 136 is the metal channel member 137 comprising top wall 138, and side walls 139 defining apertures 140. Member 137 is loosely mounted on shaft 136, since shaft 136 loosely passes through the apertures 140. A hook 141 fixed to the toy body carries one end of the rubber band 142 whose other end is fixed to the hook 143 defined by the plastic flexible toothed rack 144. The rear portion 145, of rack 144, is toothless and passes through an aperture in the toy body and terminates in the handle 146. A pinion gear 147 fixed to axle 136 is engageable with teeth 148 of rack 144. The walls 138 and 139 act as guides for guiding rack 144 and for maintaining said rack in toothed engagement with pinion gear 147. To operate, the rack 144, by its handle 145, can be pulled out, then released to spin rear-driving wheels 133 as rack 144 is pulled back into the auto body by rubber band 142, so that upon placing the auto on the ground it will be driven forwardly by the momentum of its drive wheels 133. Or, rack 144 can be pulled out, the toy set on a flat surface and rack handle 14% released so that the auto is driven forwardly as rack 144 is pulled across the pinion gear 147 by the rubber band 142.

FIGURE 14 illustrates my invention applied to a toy boat using a flywheel and gear system. The boat has the water-tight closed hull 150 having a conventional outer appearance and which can be formed in two halves which are then cemented together. Hull 151i defines the slot 151 through which the back end of toothed rack 152 projects, While the front end of rack 152 is attached to the rubber band 153 held by hook 154 fixed in the front end of the boat hull 150. A simulated cabin structure 155 can be formed as part of hull 150. The pinion gear drive shaft 156 is journaled at 157 and 158 in suitable annular recesses in hull 159. Rigidly fixed to rotatable shaft 156, are the transmission bevel gear 157', the relatively heavy flywheel 158, and the lower half 159 of a one-way clutch. Rotatable about shaft 156 is the upper clutch half 160 which is fixed to the pinion drive gear 161. A coil compression spring 162, seating at its upper end against hull 150, bears against gear 161, urging said gear 161 and clutch member 161 downwardly along shaft 156 so clutch member 160 normally engages clutch member 159. Bevel gear 157 is in meshing engagement with the bevel gear 168 fixed to propeller shaft 159' journaled in hull 150 and onto whose outer end are fixed the propeller blades 163. In operation, the rack handle 164 is quickly pulled out against the return pressure of rubber band 153 to thereby impart rotation to pinion gear 161, which in turn rotates flywheel 158 due to the engagement of the ratchet clutch elements 159 and 160. At the end of the pull-out stroke, the rack 152 can be allowed to return back into the boat hull 150 by the return action of rubber band 153. While the teeth of rack 152 will be engaged with pinion teeth 161 during the return action, the clutch member 160 will now slip over the oppositely rotating clutch member 159, since the spring 162 will allow suflicient upward movement of gear 161 and clutch 160 to permit decoupling of the clutch elements. Once rack 152 is returned to its inward position, a second rapid outward pulling stroke can be imparted to the rack 152 which will further speed up the rate of revolution of the energy storing flywheel 158 since clutch members 159 and 160 engage during each pulling stroke. These pull-out strokes can be repeated several times, after which the boat can be set in the water 165 whereupon it will be driven forward by the rotating propeller 163 until the momentum stored in flywheel 158 is exhausted.

Another embodiment of my invention is shown in FIG- URE which represents a toy paddle wheel boat. This embodiment is similar to the auto of FIGURES 12 to 13 except for the outer appearance of the toy. Here, the boat hull 170 having a generally conventional outward appearance of a toy paddle sidewheel boat, encloses the toothed pulling rack 144 whose forward end terminates in hook 143' attached to rubber band 142', which rubber band, in turn, is hooked onto the hook 141' fixed in hull 170. The sides of the boat journal the rotatable axle 136 on which is fixed the toothed pinion sleeve 147. Guide members 138' and a pair of side guide members 139 define a channel, which is loosely mounted on shaft 136', which chan nel acts as the supporting and guide surfaces for the toothed rack 144'. Fixed to opposite outer ends of shaft 136 are a pair of paddle wheels 133 which have the fixed vanes 171 extending across the width of the wheels. To

operate, the rack 144 can be pulled out by means of its handle 146' against the tension of rubber band 142'. The boat can then be set in water and the handle 146 released, whereupon rack 144 will be pulled inwardly into the boat by retraction of rubber band 142' thus rotating the pinion gear 147. This, in turn, rotates shaft 136 and the paddle wheel 133 which will drive the boat forwardly in the water until the rack 144' has been pulled completely back into the boat whereupon said rack will disengage from said pinion gear. Alternatively, rack 144 can be pulled out and released to spin wheels 133 as said rack is pulled back into the boat. The boat can then be set in the water and will be driven forwardly until the momentum of the wheels 133' is lost.

FIGURES 16 to 18 represent my invention applied to a flying airplane toy comprising the Delta shaped wing 18% at the rear of fuselage 181, while the small stabilizing wing 182 is provided proximate the front end of said fuselage. The rear of wing defines a triangular crosssection enclosure defined by outer walls 183 and 184. An inner wall 185 extends transversely across the wing. The cylindrical propeller shaft 186 is rotatably supported in annular apertures in walls 183 and 185 and is prevented from axially shifting by the flanges 187 and 199. Shaft 186 defines the pinion gear 188 engageable with the teeth of the toothed pulling rack 189. The outer end of shaft 186 terminates in the propeller unit 190. Rack 189 is formed with a toothed section 197 and a toothless section 198. At one end of rack 189 is the pulling handle 191, while proximate its other end at 192, the relatively strong coil tension spring 193 is hooked through a suitable small aperture. The other end of spring 193 is hooked into side wall 194. To operate, handle 191 is pulled out while a child holds the toy by the gripping surface 195 which is a continuation of end wall 194, until the rack is stopped by its stop 1% hitting pinion gear 188. As the rack 189 is pulled out, it will spin the propeller backwards. The rack 189 is then released, while still holding the toy, whereupon said rack will be rapidly pulled inwardly by strong spring 193 thereby driving the propeller 190 in a forward manner. Once the rack 189 is completely withdrawn into the toy so that the toy is in balance, the toy can then be let go whereupon the now rapidly rotating propeller unit 190 will fly the toy forwardly since the propeller is decoupled from the rack.

The pulling band or rack is preferably of plastic, such as polyethylene or polypropylene, so as to have sutficient rigidity to be self-supporting and yet at the same time be sufficiently flexible to permit some bending. This flexibility is particularly desirable in those instances where the pinion gear is on the axis of the toy so that the portion of the pulling band opposite the pinion gear is ofl-center from the toy axis. In this case, by means of the flexible plastic band, the ends of the band can be maintained oncenter, even though an inner portion of the rack is bent ofl-center. In addition, the flexible pulling band permits easy operation by a child since it is not essential that a perfectly straight pull-out movement be imparted to the band, such as would generally be required if the band were metal and rigid. Also, the rigidity of a metal band or rack would tend to act as a lever to pry apart the pinion gear from its supporting and guide surfaces if the rigid rack were not pulled out perfectly straight.

The pulling rack is preferably a toothed rack as shown, although the rack can take other forms such as the perforated band of FIGURES 26 to 28, and the ball and chain rack of FIGURES 29 to 31, of my copending U.S. Serial No. 276,754 filed April 30, 1963; which figures and accompanying description are hereby incorporated herein.

In sum, the present invention involves a toy having a body in the shape of an auto, boat, airplane, a starting handle for flying saucers, etc., on which is rotatably mounted a pinion gear, and supporting and guide surf-aces defined by or carried by the toy which guide a pulling band into engagement with said pinion gear. By providing repositioning means, for example an elastic or stretchable member such as a rubber band or spring, the rack can be pulled-in into the toy, so as to resume its original inoperative position, after its pulling-out stroke. By pulling-out the rack and then releasing it, the pinion gear is driven, and it in turn drives an energy-storing rotatable element which can be a flywheel, .a propeller, the wheel of a vehicle, a paddle wheel, a flying saucer, etc. Coupling means are provided which allow the energy-storing rotatable element to rotate independently of the rack or pinion gear after the rack is pulled back into the toy. This energy-storing rotatable element, in turn, provides the drive energy for moving the toy.

If the decoupling device is the toothless section of the rack, then the toy can be operated without using the rackpinion drive mechanism at all. For example, the auto of FIGURES 12 and 13 can be operated by just pushing the toy. On the other hand, if a ratchet clutch is used, then several wind-up strokes can be obtained as in the embodiment of FIGURE 14. The repositioning or return means can function simply as a return means as the rubberband 14 in the embodiment of FIGURES 1 and 2, in which case it can be relatively weak, or the return means can also furnish the drive energy as the spring 193 of the plane of FIGURES 16 to 18, in which case the return means is preferably stronger, i.e. a relatively strong spring or rubber band.

It will be apparent that a number of variations of these toys can be made. For example, by reversing the pitch of blades 101 in the embodiment of FIGURES 6 to 9, the starting handle can be operated by pulling out the rack handle 110, then leaving the rack 108 to be pulled in by rubber band 103 whereupon the saucer will be launched into flight on the pull-in stroke of said rack. The same type of operation can be obtained with the embodiment of FIGURES 1 and 2, 4 and 5, and and 11 by reversing the pitch of the propellers.

I claim:

1. A toy comprising a body, a pinion gear rotatably mounted on said body, an energy-storing rotatable element driven by said pinion, supporting and guide surfaces carried by said body, a flexible plastic rack extending between said supporting and guide surfaces and said pinion and adapted to meshingly engage and drive said pinion, repositioning means having one end attached to said body and its other end attached to said rack and biasing said rack to an inoperative position, and decoupling means which permit said energy-storing rotatable element to rotate after being driven by said pinion upon pulling-out said rack against the bias of said repositioning means and then releasing said rack whereupon said rack is pulled-in and returned by said repositioning means to said inoperative position.

2. A toy according to claim 1, wherein said pinion gear is defined by a shaft, and said rotatable element is held onto said shaft.

3. A toy according to claim 2, wherein said repositioning means includes a rubber band having one end attached to said body and its other end attached to said rack.

4. A toy according to claim 2, wherein said repositioning means is a spring having one end attached to said body and its other end attached to said rack.

5. A toy according to claim 2, wherein said decoupling means is a one-way clutch which engages in a driving re lation said pinion gear to said energy-storing rotatable element while pulling out said rack but which is disen gaged as said rack is pulled in whereby said energy-storing rotatable element can rotate independently of said pinion.

6. A toy according to claim 2, wherein said decoupling means is a one-way clutch which couples said pinion to said energy-storing rotatable element in driving engage- 8 ment during the pull-in movement of said rack, but which is decoupled during said pulling-out movement of said rack.

'7. A toy according to claim 2, wherein a portion of said rack is freely slidable past said pinion, said portion being positioned opposite said pinion when said rack is in said inoperative position.

8. A toy according to claim 1 wherein: said toy is a. paddle-wheel boat, said body is a hull, said rotatable element is a pair of paddle wheels, said rack includes a toothed portion and a toothless portion, and said decoupling means is defined by said toothless portion of said rack.

9. A toy according to claim 1 wherein: said toy is an airplane, said body includes a fuselage and a Delta-shaped wing fixed to said fuselage, said rotatable element is a propeller rotatably journaled in said wing and mounted on a shaft defining said pinion gear and said rack defines a toothed portion and a toothless portion, said toothless portion defining said decoupling means.

169. A toy helicopter comprising a fuselage including a tail and a forward portion, a rotatable shaft journaled in said forward position and defining a pinion gear, a flexible pulling rack having an outer portion terminating in a handle outside the periphery of said fuselage and having an inner portion within said periphery, a pull-back means connecting said inner portion to said fuselage, guide and supporting means defined by said fuselage for guiding and supporting said rack into meshing engagement with said pinion gear, a propeller, a one-way clutch mechanism connecting said propeller to said shaft whereby said propeller is spun by said shaft when said shaft is rotated by pulling-out said rack while in said meshing engagement against the urging of said pull-back means, said propeller becoming decoupled from said shaft upon obtaining a high rate of speed whereupon said rack can be pulled back by said pull-back means.

11. A helicopter according to claim 10, wherein: a first ratchet toothed clutch element is fixed to the upper portion of said shaft, said propeller including a hub defining a ratchet-toothed clutch element at its lower end engageable with said first ratchet clutch element, a pin extending through said ratchet elements and terminating in a collar, said second and first clutch elements being engaged for conjoint rotation under the force of gravity when said propeller is still or slowly revolving, said first and second ratchet elements becoming disengaged upon said propeller reaching a high rate of revolution whereby said hub moves upwardly into contact with said collar.

12. A helicopter toy comprising a fuselage, a drive shaft rotatably supported by said fuselage, said drive shaft defining a pinion gear, supporting and guide means defined by said fuselage proximate said pinion gear, a flexible plastic rack having a handle and defining a toothed section and a toothless section, an extendable pullback member having one end attached to said fuselage and having ist other end attached to said r-ack, supporting and guide members defined by said fuselage for urging said rack into toothed engagement with said pinion gear, stop means limiting the pull-back movement of said rack whereby said toothless section is opposite said pinion gear when said rack is in its retracted position, and a propeller unit fixed to said drive shaft, whereby said propeller is spun backwardly upon pulling said rack outwardly against the urging of said extendable pullback member and said propeller is spun forwardly in a flying direction upon the release of said rack as said rack is pulled-in by said pullback member whereupon said propeller becomes disconnected from said rack when said toothless section becomes opposite said pinion gear whereby said toy can be released into flight and will fly until the momentum of said propeller uni-t is substantially lost.

13. A toy auto including a body, a drive axle having drive wheels fixed thereon; supporting and guide means mounted on said drive axle; a flexible plastic rack having a toothed section and a toothless section, said rack extending through one end of said auto and terminating in a handle; repositioning means having one end attached to said body and its other end attached to said rack and biasing said rack to a pulled-in position; a pinion gear fixed to said drive axle; said auto being driven by pulling out said rack against the bias of said repositioning means whereupon said drive Wheels are operated in a backward direction due to meshing engagement with said toothed portion of said rack, whereupon release of said rack, said 10 rack is pulled-in by said repositioning means thereby spinning said drive wheels in a forwardly direction, said toothless section being opposite from said pinion gear whereby said rack is decoupled from said pinion gear when said rack is pulled-in whereby said drive wheels are in free rotation.

14. A toy auto according to claim 13, wherein said supporting and guide means comprises a channel-shaped member having sides defining apertures, and said drive axle passes through said apertures.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 755,446 3/1904 Butcher 46-67 X 2,642,698 6/1953 Fishburne 4675 X 2,755,596 7/1956 Weil 4675 FOREIGN PATENTS 331,660 7/ 1930 Great Britain.

660,5 17 1-1/ 1951 Great Britain.

15 RICHARD c. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Examiner. 

1. A TOY COMPRISING A BODY, A PINION GEAR ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID BODY, AN ENERGY-STORING ROTATABLE ELEMENT DRIVEN BY SAID PINION, SUPPORTING AND GUIDE SURFACES CARRIED BY SAID BODY, A FLEXIBLE PLASTIC RACK EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SUPPORTING AND GUIDE SURFACES AND SAID PINION AND ADAPTED TO MESHINGLY ENGAGE AND DRIVE SAID PINION, REPOSITIONING MEANS HAVING ONE END ATTACHED TO SAID BODY AND ITS OTHER END ATTACHED TO SAID RACK AND BIASING SAID RACK TO AN INOPERATIVE POSITION, AND DECOUPLING MEANS WHICH PERMIT SAID ENERGY-STORING ROTATABLE ELEMENT TO ROTATE AFTER BEING DRIVEN BY SAID PINION UPON PULLING-OUT SAID RACK AGAINST THE BIAS OF SAID REPOSITIONING MEANS AND THEN RELEASING SAID RACK WHEREUPON SAID RACK IS PULLED-IN AND RETURNED BY SAID REPOSITIONING MEANS TO SAID INOPERATIVE POSITION. 